T minus 4 days

I can't believe in four days my summer will officially start! This past October I found out that I was hired as a Kids Club Staff member for YouthWorks. It was nice knowing so early that my summer was set as a lot of my friends struggled to find jobs! However, I wasn't to find out my placement until the beginning of May. Thus began the waiting process.

The first six months were fine as I was busy with school and life in general. Then as March passed and April began in full swing I was checking my email constantly awaiting my regional placement. Towards the end of the month I found out that I was placed in the Southeast Region of the United States. I was so excited to finally narrow my placements from 72 sites to about 18. Then began my waiting for my actual placement. A short week later I got the email! Chattanooga, TN it was (which I'm still figuring out how to spell).

The past couple of weeks have been crazy with finishing my junior year at Westminster, coming home for a brief week and a half, and soon taking off for the south. The Chattanooga site is solely for middle school age kids. This makes me excited and nervous at the same time. Middle Schoolers (as many of you know) are their own breed. They're in the process of figuring out what life is and who they are in the middle of it. This past semester I spent a month teaching special needs students in two different placements. I could have gotten placed in any grades from kindergarten to eighth grade for either. But, you guessed it, I was placed in a 7th and 8th grade multiple disabilities classroom and an 8th grade learning support classroom. This was a new experience for me as I'm used to be a youth leader for middle school but not a teacher. I guess God was just preparing me for this summer as I am going to have my fair share of middle school time!

I am also leading what YouthWorks calls, a Kids Club. Essentially, this is a four day a week VBS-like camp for neighborhood kids ages 5-10 that lasts the entire summer. The idea is to have the same neighborhood kids come every week. Different church groups will bring their middle schoolers to us in Chattanooga for the week and some of them will help me run the Kids Club. I am excited to learn more about this next week during training in Birmingham!

I just know that God has a lot to teach me this summer. I have a feeling that this summer is going to be one of the most stressful, stretching, yet life changing and rewarding times of my life!

So off to training on Monday, then to Chattanooga a week later. I can't wait to begin this experience and keep you updated with pictures and experiences :-)

This is our summer bible verse. Such a great reminder to work for God all day with everything you have and to love those around you no matter what!